At the beginning of the lanterns, the prosperity of the capital is still there.

In the British Mansion, the older generation of martial artists have gathered here.

Although this is not his own mansion, Li Jin, the Marquis of Xiangcheng, is particularly excited tonight, and frequently raises his glass to drink with everyone, like a proud groom official.

Since the imperial court cracked down on the most profitable usury business of the Wuxun group, and squeezed the oil and water from them through luxury taxes, the life of their nobles has become more and more "difficult".

This time, under the guidance of Hou Li Jin of Xiangcheng, each family chose to huddle together to keep warm, and raised hundreds of thousands of taels of silver together for a speculation.

They took advantage of the opportunity of the imperial court to control the river, and benefited from the arrival of the locust plague known in advance, but they began to hoard rice and grain for speculation and make money in the spring.

It is similar to the slow entry into the vegetable basket by the Internet giants in later generations, as long as they can choke the necks of the people, then it is easy for them to make money.

Facing the Marquis of Xiangcheng, who was in a state of excitement, Zheng Heng, the Marquis of Wu'an, asked worriedly: "Marquis Xiangcheng, will there be any hidden dangers if we do this?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Yong Anbo and other martial artists turned their heads to look at Li Jin.

In fact, there were not only members of the Wuxun group, but also representatives of the honorable relatives and the official gentry. Because Zhu Youzhu forced them to be "unprofitable", these powerful people from different attributes slowly came together.

Although they have no intention of rebelling, they are all upper-class people who are used to living a life of fine clothes and food, so naturally they can't sit back and eat, so joining forces to seek money is the best way out.

If it was a previous dynasty, they didn't have to worry about the emperor on the dragon chair at all, and it was easy to restrain or deceive an emperor with their power.

It's just that although the current Zhu Youzhu is a tyrant, he is indeed an extremely shrewd emperor, so it is difficult to guarantee that the tyrant Zhu Youzhu will take this to trouble all of them.

Since Hongzhi ascended the throne, not to mention the two deposed national mansions and the two marquis mansions that were confiscated, there have been countless powerful people who have been pushed to the guillotine.

"If we don't steal or rob this time, what hidden dangers can we have?" Li Jin, the Marquis of Xiangcheng, didn't take speculating on the high price of rice for profit seriously, and drank disapprerovingly.

Wu'an Hou Zheng Heng nodded lightly, and said bitterly: "That's right! It's just that we are hoarding after all, and Your Majesty can't say that we want to blame it! ”

Although they all hate Zhu Youji, they also have fear in their hearts. Once Zhu Youzhu is held accountable, not to mention that they have made a lot of money, it is a question whether they can get out of the way.

Yong'an Bo and others also have this in mind, and at this moment, they have regarded the Marquis of Xiangcheng as their backbone, but they are all looking forward to Li Jin coming up with a solution.

"Don't forget! When the imperial court imposed the extravagant tax, it had already clearly stipulated that the normal transaction of the market was respected, and at that time, the house of 10,000 taels of gold was taken as an example! Now we only sell a pound of rice for dozens of yuan, what reason does he have to take care of here, at most he will pay extravagant taxes to the imperial court at that time! Li Jin didn't have a good impression of Zhu Youji, but he threw out his own rhetoric.

"There really isn't a need to worry about the emperor's pursuit!"

"If we have to pay the extravagant tax then, we should find a way!"

"In the end, he got the biggest benefit, which is really a mockery!"

……

The worries of everyone present about the matter were gone, and although they were preparing for the worst, some of the martial artists felt like they had been pricked with a needle in their hearts.

They worked hard to plan for so long, so that they could control the rice and grain to make huge profits, but the emperor did nothing, and only relied on the name of extravagant taxes to take three or four percent of the profits.

"In fact, you haven't noticed one thing, the other emperors have the most rice and grain, and he is the biggest winner!" Li Jin hesitated for a moment, and said when he pointed out a vague matter.

But I don't know why the emperor was so partial to rice grain, and he has actually been accumulating rice grain all these years.

Not only were all the 280,000 hectares of rice grown in the Imperial Village hoarded, but the royal shops seemed to have a kind of paranoia about rice grain, and they also bought a large amount of polished rice with silver.

If other people are naturally worried about storage, but the royal granary in the Forbidden City is a natural warehouse, and each royal rice store has large and small granaries, so the amount of rice and grain hoarded is actually very staggering.

Fortunately, the rice and grain hoarded by the royal family were not in and out, but "sold rice" in the form of large-scale rice stamps, and even distributed rice stamps to the Beijing army as military salaries.

It is precisely because of this that although Zhu Youzhu has the highest polished rice in the capital, most of the polished rice has actually been owned by the ticket holder, so the polished rice he has has not reached the point of horror.

The reason why Li Jin manipulated the price of rice in the capital so fearlessly was because he saw that Zhu Youzhu had the most polished rice, so it was impossible for him to suppress the rise in rice prices, and he would even add fuel to the fire behind it.

Wu'an Hou Zheng Heng clarified the logic, and even echoed the truth: "Xiangyang Hou's analysis is reasonable!" Since we are letting the price fluctuations in the market fluctuate, and the imperial court is going to levy extravagant taxes, the emperor has no reason to blame us for this matter! ”

"Let's drink this cup together! This time, we must make a lot of money to make up for our losses in recent years! Li Jin raised the wine glass in his hand and said loudly with a high fighting spirit.

Since the time when they ushered in the Hongji era, his life can be said to be getting worse and worse.

At first, they were able to get a piece of the salt profits, but under Zhu Youji's iron-fisted methods, they actually rejuvenated the Kaizhong Law in the Taizu period.

Then there was their most important usury income, but it was Zhu Youzhi who used almost bloodbathed means to rectify finance, so that the current usury had no soil for survival.

The next is the speculation of the capital mansion that they have been participating in, originally with their financial advantage, and the imperial court clearly will not build the outer city of Beijing, so they easily promote the mansion in the capital, but they encountered extravagant taxes.

It's just that now it's finally bright, and this time he has controlled the price of rice in the capital by hoarding Juqi, and is about to make a huge amount of profits from it.

On this night, the British Mansion seemed to be very lively.

Li Jin, the Marquis of Xiangyang, was indeed drunk, and said with feeling: "The emperor's heir is robbed, after every second day, Zhang is like Qin, and he is always new!" Ha ha...... Providence, everything is providential, it is really happy! ”

This......

Wu'anhou Zheng Heng and the others knew that Li Jin was drunk, but when they heard such rebellious words, they couldn't help but look at each other in shock.

It's just that Zhou Guo is a person who knows the roots, especially many martial artists have married each other, so their relationship is very close.

However, the British public Zhang Mao seemed to be extraordinarily quiet, but as if he suddenly thought of something, he looked at Li Jin thoughtfully.

In July in the capital, the temperature has slowly dropped from the peak, but it still seems very hot.

It's just that the people of the capital no longer have the heart to pay attention to the general environment, praying that the locust hunt can be successfully completed this time, and that the locust plague will not affect their crops.

As for the low-income residents living in Beijing, although they hope that the price of rice will be reduced, they have completely lost their right to speak.

"Eighty yuan for a pound of polished rice?"

The price of rice in the capital continues to skyrocket, which makes people doubt their lives for a while.

Originally, the people of the capital never worried about not being able to buy rice and grain, but it was as if all the rice in the city suddenly disappeared overnight, resulting in a rush to buy in the capital.

Not to mention that in this era of unsmooth information, even in the later generations, it is also a rush to grab a mask and grab a double coptis, and the sea water in a small day has just been drained and grabbed the salt that cannot be eaten for hundreds of years.

"I want a thousand pounds!"

"Aren't you just two people?"

"God knows, now hold it steadily!"

……

As long as someone starts to buy it, there will be a large number of followers, and they don't think about the actual situation at all, but they brainlessly join this rush to buy, buy, buy, buy.

This is the habit of the Chinese people, once there is a situation where money can't buy it, in order to get a peace of mind, they can buy things at sky-high prices.

In the meantime, some people have discovered something good.

In the face of the Yellow River's burst, the imperial court also issued large-scale rice stamps to the victims in the process of transferring millions of victims in Henan. These rice tickets do not need to verify their identity, as long as you hold the rice tickets, you can go to the royal rice store and other places to exchange for the corresponding rice grain.

Although most of the rice tickets have already been collected by the imperial court after being cashed, there are also many rice tickets that have not been redeemed and have been staying in the people.

Not only this batch of rice tickets, but also the female employees of the Royal Weaving Factory received some rice tickets as year-end bonuses, and the monthly salaries of the soldiers in Beijing can also choose rice tickets.

Once upon a time, when cloth tickets and silver were popular, rice tickets also occupied a place.

"Rice tickets are really a good thing!"

"Hee-hee...... I really got the face value of the polished rice! ”

"I told you earlier that rice tickets are more cost-effective than those silver, but you don't believe it!"

……

Just when the price of rice in the capital was soaring, many people were surprised to find that the rice tickets in their hands could be easily exchanged for rice grain, but they were more reliable than silver.

North of the city, Rizhongfang.

There is a water system of Beihaizi here, and there is a house not far from the lake.

Although the house appeared to be large, the moss and cracks in the doorway proved that the family had fallen into ruin, and two women were arguing inside, and a young man in a shabby robe opened the door and walked out.

Li He's ancestors can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty, but now it is dilapidated, although there is a concubine room like flowers, but the huge mansion has no servants anymore.

Now that there is no rice to put in the pot, he remembered that he still has a rice ticket of five buckets of rice in his hand.

The year before last, he took in a poor relative in Henan. The poor relative originally stayed at his house, but he learned that the imperial court was dividing the land in Jianzhou, so he decided to go to Shanhaiguan to break through.

Before leaving, the relative thanked him for his hospitality and gave him his last five buckets of rice.

Originally, he didn't take this rice ticket seriously, after all, he still had a lot of worthwhile items at home at that time, and he didn't have to worry about eating and drinking at all.

It's just sitting and eating empty, and now I'm still ghostly marrying a concubine of a water-based poplar flower, but the most treasured Song porcelain has been broken, so that now it has reached the point where there is no rice to cook.

Li He thought that he had lost all his family business, but he wanted to kill himself, but his fingers were touching his face and he was afraid of pain, but he stopped with a sigh.

The Royal Rice Store has many branches in the capital, and there is one on the most welcoming street in Rizhongfang.

Since the servant fled with the previous concubine with the money, he also had to take care of the livelihood himself, and the burden of buying rice at home fell on him.

Although he knew that the royal rice store was here, the façade of the royal rice store was too tall and tall, and it was stained with the word "royal", so he had the same psychology as many people. But they don't want to come here to buy rice.

It's just that the situation is different now, and the rice ticket in his hand can only be redeemed at the designated royal rice shop, so he also walked towards the royal rice head-on.

"This lord, are you going to the royal rice shop to exchange rice?" A young man with a mole on his eyebrow suddenly greeted him and asked enthusiastically.

Li He nervously clenched the rice ticket in his sleeve, and immediately said vigilantly: "Yes, what do you mean by this?" It's rare that this royal rice shop can't be exchanged for rice? ”

"The royal Mi Xing Tong is not bullied, naturally it can be changed, but can you borrow a step to speak first?" The young man with a mole made a gesture of please.

Li He hesitated for a moment, but saw that the place the other party was pointing to was the tea stall next to him, so he nodded reluctantly.

"A fried liver!" The young man with a mole greeted.

Li He took a sip of the tea he had sent, and asked curiously, "What's the matter?" ”

"We are collecting rice tickets, and please be able to cut love!" There are mole youths who get straight to the point.

Li He's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked quietly, "How do you collect it?" ”

"How about you give me your rice ticket and I'll give you the silver?" The young man with a mole has already determined that he had a rice ticket that year, and his eyes lit up slightly.

Li He put down the tea bowl, but said directly in a showdown: "Don't be a fool of me, who doesn't know that the price of rice has skyrocketed, and it has risen to sixty yuan per catty!" ”

"I can give you a pound of sixty-five cents to calculate!" The young man with a mole thought that the deal would fail, but he smiled and directly increased the price.

Li He looked the young man in front of him up and down, but said incomprehensibly: "This is unusual, how can anyone not love silver and rice!" ”

"As long as you take the silver taels to a nearby rice shop to buy rice, you can earn 10% of silver, and you don't suffer a loss in this transaction?" There are moles for young people to carry out seduction authentic.

Li He found that he really didn't suffer a loss, and he could even make a profit, so he nodded and said, "Okay!" If you dare to lie to me, I will immediately call a patrol to arrest you, you should know that the current Shuntian Mansion Yin is Song Qingtian! ”

"Don't worry, you can test the silver first, and then give me a rice ticket!" The young man with a mole didn't intend to cheat at all, so he said very happily.

Li He has never been a mother-in-law, seeing that it is profitable now, after checking that the other party's silver is correct, he happily gave the rice ticket in his hand to the other party.

"In the future, if you have a rice ticket, you can come here to find me, and it is guaranteed to be more expensive than the market price!" When the young man with a mole saw the completion of the transaction, he was also very enthusiastic about marketing.

Li He pretended to be unfathomable and nodded, but he knew that he couldn't get any more rice tickets at all, and the reason why he chose to trade was just to get more rice.

It's just that when he hurriedly returned to the rice shop he had just sold, the brand of sixty yuan a pound had not changed, but it had been replaced by the store for seventy yuan a pound.

Who would have thought that the price of rice, which was still 60 yuan just now, could rise to 70 yuan when it was folded back, which was simply robbery. (End of chapter)